Goats Cheese, Butternut Squash and Leek Pasties

Whenever I head home, the sight of a takeaway is rare. And this is where my love for homemade food comes from. With my stepmum also being a vegetarian as well as an advocate for Riverford veg boxes, the food is rich with variety and flavour. On a recent visit back to my hometown, I came away with some gorgeous roasted vegetable pasties, and this is what has spurred me on to try my own.

Boy, were the results worth it!

First of all, there’s something about combining squash and goats cheese that takes you to another level of happy. But then, by putting this into wholesome shortcrust pastry along with onions and leeks makes it even better.

Perfect for having anytime of the day (yes, even breakfast if that’s how you roll), these pasties will keep in an airtight container for three days, meaning easy work lunches too.

Goats Cheese, Butternut Squash and Leek Pasties (Serves 2)

Ingredients

Half a butternut squash, de-seeded and with the outer skin removed

Readymade shortcrust pastry

An onion, diced

One small tub of goats cheese

A leek, chopped

Pinch of cumin seeds

Olive oil

Pinch of rosemary

Seasoning

An egg yolk

Set your oven to gas mark 6/200C. Lay the squash onto a baking tray and drizzle over the olive oil. Scatter your salt and pepper over the chunks and top this by adding some fragrant cumin seeds. Slide the baking tray into the oven for around 30 minutes. In this time, lay out your shortcrust pastry and, using a bowl, cut out three or four circles. Lay these onto another baking tray.

Once the squash has roasted up nicely, remove the tray from the oven and start placing your slices onto one half of each circle. Layer your diced onion and leek on top of this and finish with a hint of rosemary and a good dose of goats cheese. After the filling has been prepared, take the other side of your pastry and roll it over the filling, pressing down the close with a small roll of extra pastry.

Taking a brush, cover each pasty in a thin layer of egg yolk. When all of your pasties are covered, place the baking tray back into the oven for a further 15-20 minutes, or until the pasties are golden.

Serve these wintry delights up with a green leafy salad and some wholesome boiled baby potatoes for the full effect.

Did you enjoy this recipe? I’d love to know what you thought – hit me up in the comments below.

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How To Make A Banging Veggie Roast

Us vegetarians and vegans all know what it’s like when you first give up meat, especially on a Sunday. Whilst everyone else tucks into a big filling chicken or piece of beef, you’re often left tucking into the overcooked broccoli and carrots. During my time so far as a veggie, finding a good and inexpensive alternative to the meaty bit has been tough – but I’ve finally cracked it.

This meal is the ultimate meat-free experience. If you’re looking for a vegan alternative, replace the cheese with a cashew cheese or leave it out altogether and use couscous or rich roasted tomatoes instead. And, of course, don’t be liberal with the roast potatoes!

Roasted Squash Stuffed With Cheesy Vegetables (Serves 2)

Ingredients

A large squash chopped in half with seeds and fleshy centres scooped

One onion sliced

A whole head of broccoli chopped

A clove of garlic

75g of cheese, plus extra for topping

A dash of soya or cow’s milk

A large tablespoon of cornflour

Two carrots sliced

Eight or nine baby potatoes, halved

Seasoning

 

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200C. Arrange your two squash halves onto a baking tray, drizzling over with olive oil, a spoonful of honey and seasoning. Place the tray into the oven and cook the squash for around 30-40 minutes.

Taking your baby potatoes, place these into a saucepan and fill with boiling water. Turn the hob onto a medium heat and keep the potatoes cooking until they begin to feel soft. Once they do, remove from the heat. Slide out the baking tray and arrange your potatoes onto one side, with the chopped carrots going on the other side. Drizzle these with olive oil, a dose of honey, breadcrumbs and seasoning before placing the tray back into roast.

When the squash is just about done, add a steamer to your saucepan and fill with the broccoli. You only want to steam the florets for 5 minutes maximum, just to get them to soften their crunch a little.

For the cheese sauce, heat up a large spoonful of butter. As the butter begins to melt, drop in a spoonful of cornflour and, at the same time, add soya or cow’s milk. Continue to stir as you add, making sure that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat once the mixture starts to thicken and then add your grated cheese.

Once the broccoli is done, slide out your baking tray and fill the squash with the florets, crushed garlic and onion slices first, topping this with the cheese sauce and then finishing off by grating cheddar over the top and sprinkling a fine layer of pepper. Add this to the oven for a further 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Serve up on its own and be the envy of every meateater at the table, or add gravy for an even better Sunday roast. This recipe is perfect for big student roasts, family get-togethers and, with everything cooked on one tray, catering for vegetarian guests as part of a larger roast.

Recipe: Pea and Stilton Stuffed Butternut Squash

If there’s one crop I look forward to the most it has to be squash. Pumpkins, courgettes and butternut squash are all fantastic vegetables and they can be used in a whole host of different ways. Although the initial preparation of slicing the squash into smaller chunks and removing the skin can be a little difficult, it’s worth it for the tasty orange flesh.

For vegetarians and vegans, pumpkins and squash have become suitable replacements for meat, and this recipe I’m bringing you today is no exception. If you are vegan, replace the milk cheese for a vegan equivalent, or leave it out and use houmous instead. The possibilities are endless. This is why, if you have a garden or allotment, it’s such a great idea to grow your own pumpkins and squashes. They don’t take a lot of caring for and you’ll get some fantastic results!

Pea and Stilton Stuffed Butternut Squash

Ingredients

• One butternut squash, halved
• A lug of olive oil
• A teaspoon of paprika
• A teaspoon of chilli powder
• Seasoning
• 100g of peas
• One onion, chopped
• A couple of handfuls of spinach
• Block of Stilton
• Fresh chives

To start off, turn your oven to Gas Mark 6/200C. Place your butternut squash halves, with the middles carved out, onto a baking tray and lightly cover them with a good lug of olive oil. Next, season with salt and pepper and top everything off with the paprika and chilli powder. Slide the tray into the oven and bake for around an hour or until the squash starts to char on the sides.

In the meantime, make your stuffing. Take 100g of fresh peas, or tinned equivalent, and pulse together with a handful of chopped fresh chives, the chopped onion and a little ground black pepper. Set aside until the butternut squash begin to soften.

Once the squash is soft, take a large spoon and press the stuffing into the middles. Place the squash halves back into the oven for around 10 minutes. Once again, remove the tray from the oven and this time place fresh chopped spinach leaves onto the stuffing, finishing with some generous pieces of Stilton, or a vegan topping of your choice (houmous, breadcrumbs and seasoning, couscous or vegan cheese). Cook the squash halves until the cheese has melted. When this is done, serve up and enjoy with a hearty summer salad.

If you’d like to know more about how to grow your own pumpkins and butternut squash, why not drop me a line on the contact page?

Pumpkin Muffins

Halloween is here, and I’m sure you’ve all been busy carving out your pumpkins.

But what exactly do we do with the rest of the pumpkin once it’s been carved out?

Well, you can take both the delicious orange flesh and seeds and make this delicious pumpkin muffin recipe:

3 Ways to Play with Pumpkins: Pumpkin Houmous

I’m on a mission, a mission to show you that pumpkins don’t just make great decorations at Halloween. In this 3 part series of blogs, I’m going to prove to you how you can make some great meals with pumpkins that also save you a load of money. You can see my recipe for soup here.

3 Ways to Play with Pumpkins: Pumpkin Soup

As a grower, I love pumpkins. (Shameless picture of me holding one below):

However, I’m 99% certain that most of you reading this have never grown one. You’ve most likely carved one in preparation for Halloween. You may have even tasted one in a fancy restaurant. Yet, for the majority of us, pumpkins aren’t exactly as familiar to us as, say, potatoes or carrots are.

But they should be.